Control member for toy airplane

ABSTRACT

A toy airplane featuring a control member rotatably mounted to the fuselage that allows the airplane to be flown in both the clockwise and counterclockwise directions, either right side up or upside down. The control member includes a swivel mounting that it located within an open channel on the underside of the fuselage and between the wings of the airplane.

United States Patent Marason, Jr. June 3, 1975 CONTROL MEMBER FOR TOY AIRPLANE 3,366,354 l/l968 Sterba 46/77 X [75] lnventor: Gabriel Marason, Jr., Los Angeles,

Calif. Primary Examiner-Louis G. Mancene Assistant Examiner.l. Q. Lever [73] Assignee. Mattel, Inc., Hawthorne, Calif. Attorney Agent, or Firm Max E Shirk [22] Filed: Aug. 29, 1973 pp No 392,846 57 ABSTRACT A toy airplane featuring a control member rotatably [52] US. Cl. 46/77 mounted to the fuselage that allows the airplane to be [5 lllt. Cl A63h 27/04 fl in both the Clockwise and counterclockwise i [58] new of Search 46/77 79; 244/1531 rections, either right side up or upside down. The con- 7 244/154 A trol member includes a swivel mounting that it located 8 within an open channel on the underside of the fuse- [56] References Cited lage and between the wings of the airplane.

3 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures 1 CONTROL MEMBER FOR TOY AIRPLANE FIELD OF INVENTION DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR Numerous toy airplanes have been marketed in the past that allow a child to perform various stunts. Some of these airplanes have been tethered and others have been launched for free flight. However, none of these prior art airplanes have included a mechanism that allows a tethered airplane to be flown in both the clockwise and counterclockwise directions, and also to be flown either right side up or upside down.

Accordingly. it is the object of the present invention to provide a toy airplane having a novel control member to allow the airplane to orbit in both the clockwise and counterclockwise directions. either right side up or upside down. 7

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide a toy airplane that may be tethered and controlled to fly loops. figure 8s. and other stunts.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a novel control means that allows the airplane to be tethered or to be launched.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Additional objects, advantages. and characteristic features of the present invention will become readily apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment of the invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a toy airplane in tethered flight in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the toy airplane of FIG. 1 in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of the control member of the toy airplane of FIG. 2 taken along lines 3-3 of FIG. 2 in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of the rotatably mounted control member of FIG. 3 taken along lines 44 of FIG. 3 in accordance with the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to FIG. I, there is shown a perspective view of a toy airplane 10. The toy airplane I is tethered and flown by means of a control stick l2 and a tether line 13. The control stick 12 may be held in the hand of a child 11 and may be rotated by the child so that the airplane may perform various stunts. The toy airplane 10 may be flown in both a clockwise direction and a counterclockwise direction. and either right side up or upside down. The change in direction or attitude of the toy airplane 10 can be accomplished while it is in flight by manipulation of the control stick 12. In a preferred embodiment of this invention, the tether line 13 is elastic -for example, it may be made of rubber. The control stick 12 may be of any suitable length and may consist of two sticks that are connected together by a suitable connector 12a. as shown. A retain ing member 1212 may be utilized to retain the tether line 13 to the distal end of the control stick 12.

Referring now to FIG. 2, there is shown a side elevational view of the toy airplane 10. The airplane I0 is generally comprised of a fuselage 14, a propeller 15, a pair of wings 16, a vertical stabilizer 17, a horizontal stabilizer 18, and a landing gear 19. The fuselage 14, the pair of wings 16, the vertical stabilizer 17 and the horizontal stabilizer 18 may be constructed of any suitable lightweight material, for example, styrofoam. The propeller 15 and the landing gear 19 may be constructed of suitable plastic material. The control means 20 are rotatably mounted to the underside of the fuselage 14 in an open channel 21, and the control means 20 includes an opening 23 within which the tether line 13 may be inserted. The control means 20 is rotatably mounted to the upper portion of the landing gear 19, as shown in FIG. 3. The opening 23 of the control means 20 is located on or slightly ahead of a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the toy airplane 10 that includes the center of gravity of the toy airplane 10. This relationship between the opening 23 and the center of gravity allows the toy airplane 10 to maintain a level attitude when in tethered orbit. The channel 21 is open along the entire width of the fuselage 14 so that the control means 20 may rotate on either side of its center line as illustrated in FIG. 3.

Referring now to FIG. 3, there is shown a front elevational view of the control means 20 taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2. The control means 20 is rotatably mounted in retaining means 22 of the landing gear 19. The control means 20 may rotate 90 either to the right or the left to positions 20a and 20b as illustrated by the dashed lines. Thus, the toy airplane 10 may fly in a normal level attitude, either completely right side up or upside down, when it is being orbited at various altitudes. At this point, it is noted that the prior art toy airplanes were restricted to flight attitudes of various angles depending upon the altitude of the airplane.

Referring now to FIG. 4, there is shown a side elevational view of the control means 20 of FIG. 3 taken along the lines 4-4 of FIG. 3. The control means 20 is mounted in the retaining means 22 of the landing gear 19. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the tether line 13 may be tied to the control means 20 by means of inserting the tether line 13 within the opening 23 of the control means 20. For launching the toy airplane 10, a loop may be tied in the tether line 13 in order that the loop may be coupled within the recessed portion 24, as defined by the hook members, of the control means 20. In I .nching the toy airplane 10, it may then be held with one hand and the elastic tether line 13 may be held with the other hand. As the toy airplane 10 is released. the elastic tether line 13 will easily slide out of the recessed portion 24 of the control means 20.

Although particular embodiments of the present invention have been described and illustrated herein. it is recognized that modifications and variations may readily occur to those skilled in the art and consequently it is intended that the claims be interpreted to cover such modifications and equivalents.

What is claimed is:

l. A toy airplane comprising:

a fuselage having an open channel normal to the longitudinal axis of said fuselage;

control means located within said open channel and connected to said airplane, said control means being rotatably mounted for allowing said airplane to be flown in both a clockwise direction, and a counterclockwise direction, and either right side up or upside down, said control means including a first end and a second end, said first end being pivotally mounted to said airplane and said second end including an opening; and

control line means adapted to be coupled to said opening of said second end of said control means for controlling the flight of said airplane.

2. A toy airplane comprising:

a fuselage having an open channel normal to the longitudinal axis of said fuselage;

control means located within said open channel and connected to said airplane, said control means being rotatably mounted for allowing said airplane to be flown in both a clockwise direction, and a counterclockwise direction, and either right side up or upside down, said control means including a first end and a second end, said first end being pivotally mounted to said airplane and said second end including a recessed portion extending towards the front of said airplane; and

control line means adapted to be placed within said recessed portion of said second end of said control means for launching said airplane.

3. A toy airplane comprising:

a fuselage having an open channel normal to the longitudinal axis of said fuselage;

control means located within said open channel and connected to said airplane, said control means being rotatably mounted for allowing said airplane to be flown in both a clockwise direction, and a counterclockwise direction, and either right side up or upside down, said control means including a first end and a second end, said first end being pivotally mounted to said airplane and said second end including an opening and a recessed portion extending towards the front of said airplane; and

control lines means adapted to be respectively coupled to said opening and said recessed portion of said second end of said control means for tethered flight and launching of said airplane, respectively. 

1. A toy airplane comprising: a fuselage having an open channel normal to the longitudinal axis of said fuselage; control means located within said open channel and connected to said airplane, said control means being rotatably mounted for allowing said airplane to be flown in both a clockwise direction, and a counterclockwise direction, and either right side up or uPside down, said control means including a first end and a second end, said first end being pivotally mounted to said airplane and said second end including an opening; and control line means adapted to be coupled to said opening of said second end of said control means for controlling the flight of said airplane.
 1. A toy airplane comprising: a fuselage having an open channel normal to the longitudinal axis of said fuselage; control means located within said open channel and connected to said airplane, said control means being rotatably mounted for allowing said airplane to be flown in both a clockwise direction, and a counterclockwise direction, and either right side up or uPside down, said control means including a first end and a second end, said first end being pivotally mounted to said airplane and said second end including an opening; and control line means adapted to be coupled to said opening of said second end of said control means for controlling the flight of said airplane.
 2. A toy airplane comprising: a fuselage having an open channel normal to the longitudinal axis of said fuselage; control means located within said open channel and connected to said airplane, said control means being rotatably mounted for allowing said airplane to be flown in both a clockwise direction, and a counterclockwise direction, and either right side up or upside down, said control means including a first end and a second end, said first end being pivotally mounted to said airplane and said second end including a recessed portion extending towards the front of said airplane; and control line means adapted to be placed within said recessed portion of said second end of said control means for launching said airplane. 